Call for anti-gay crusader Milonov to be investigated for extremism

An upper house senator has asked Russian law enforcers to investigate the activities of St. Petersburg lawmaker Vitaly Milonov, known for his uncompromising defense of Christian values as well as promoting the ban on gay propaganda to minors.

In his letter to the head of Russia’s Investigation Committee,
Senator Konstantin Dobrynin (Arkhangelsk Region) accused Milonov
of “assisting terrorist activities, public calls to commit
such activities, organizing and participating in a terrorist
cell, as well as illegal possession, transportation and carrying
of firearms and explosives.” Dobrynin also writes that in
recent years Milonov has repeatedly and insistently made
statements banned by the Federal Law against Extremism, the
Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.

The senator’s claims are based on a number of media reports of
Milonov’s actions at political rallies in Russia and his trip to
Southern Ukraine where he posed for a photograph with a gun while
wearing a t-shirt with the slogan “Orthodoxy or Death.”
The slogan has been previously banned by the Russian Justice
Ministry as extremist after experts decided it could spark hatred
between religions by declaring supremacy of one religion over
others.

Dobrynin also asked the Investigation Committee to order
compulsory psychiatric tests for St Pete deputy. “It is possible
that Milonov is not a true criminal but in his illness he
inclines towards positioning himself as a dangerous criminal,
possibly because of his current state of mental health,” the
senator wrote.

The senator has written twice to the Prosecutor General’s office
with similar requests, but then prosecutors decided that
Milonov’s activities were not unlawful.

Milonov sharply reacted at the news, accusing Dobrynin of being
anti-Christian and likening him to Judas Iscariot.

“For him, everything in Orthodox Christianity is extremism. I
don’t want to notice this man,” the politician told RSN
radio. “I cannot take this seriously. I have issued a
personal spiritual ban for this man. He has probably written more
reports on me than Judas had on Christ,” the news site
Gazeta.ru quoted Milonov as saying.

Vitaly Milonov is well-known in Russia and abroad as the author
of the St. Petersburg regional law that bans the promotion of
homosexuality towards minors. After the bill was introduced in
Russia’s second largest city and a number of other regions, the
federal parliament voted for a similar nationwide ban, causing a
wave of protests in Russia and around the world. His other
initiatives included the bill outlawing child beauty pageants,
forced resettlement of homeless people to rural areas, a campaign
against fake accounts in social networks and many others.